Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s ultranationalist Vox party, has been invited in his capacity as president of the far-right European Patriots party, which includes members from 11 EU countries and has 86 MEPs in the European Parliament. From Portugal, André Ventura, head of the right-wing populist Chega party, was invited along with other hard-right European figures.
Poland’s Morawiecki told POLITICO on Tuesday that he would attend the ceremony in Washington, D.C.
The list of who was not invited is almost as revealing.
Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, did not receive an invitation, according to her spokesperson. On the other hand, the EU ambassador to Washington, Jovita Neliupšienė, did make the cut and will attend the ceremony at the Capitol.
Also not invited: Marine Le Pen, the three-time French presidential candidate and far-right leader, as well as her protégé Jordan Bardella. Neither received an invitation, according to a party official.
One possible explanation: Le Pen and Bardella aren’t on the record as waxing effusive about the president-elect.
This is, after all, an event for those who played the game.
Eli Stokols, Phelim Kine, Clea Caulcutt, Aitor Hernández-Morales, Nette Nöstlinger, Matt Honeycombe-Foster and Hugo Murphy contributed reporting.
